Tittabawassee River Floods

In the spring, the Tittabawassee River often floods at various locations along it's
banks due to snow melt and/or rain. In the fall of 1986 an extraordinary amount of
rain fell in a short period of time (up to 14 inches in 12 hours). The resulting
flood was on a scale that statistically would occur once every 100-500 years. The
2004 spring floods were closer to the norm, however; there were more of them (4) and more
extensive than the "average" spring flood. In all of these floods, river
sediment and surrounding flood plain soils are swept up and redeposited. Dioxin binds to soil
particles and travels wherever the soil goes.

Above: April 2011; Tittabawassee floods West Michigan Park
that was remediated by EPA in 2009; Good place for a playground?

MDCH Warning:,
people should take precautions when entering the flood plain: "There are some common
sense steps you can take to limit your exposure to the dioxins found in the flood plain.
If you have been playing or working in soil that could be contaminated, wash your skin to
remove any dirt. Thorough hand washing is especially important before eating. Children
playing outside should be prevented from putting toys or other dirty objects in their
mouths. Clean fill dirt can be added over contaminated dirt in gardens, on lawns, and in
play areas if dioxin contamination is known or suspected. However, if the area is
flooded after clean fill is added, the surface soil could be re-contaminated. Care should
be taken not to disturb the layer of clean soil covering the contaminated soil. Because
they may be especially sensitive to dioxins, children should not play in soil or sediment
that is known to contain elevated levels of dioxins. "

MDEQ graph of Tittabawassee River Flooding 1960- 1999

Click here to view graph of flood
history. Numbers on left are CFS - Cubic feet per second of flow. Graph
presented at 12/3/03 CAP meeting.

1986 Flood

The Bay City Times, in retrospect, summed up "The Flood" of 1986 well
by telling their readers to just scan the "D" listings in the
dictionary,"its all there, Downpours, Drenching, Devastation and Disaster"!

In the fall of 1986, the Tittabawassee River as well as many other rivers in the state
experienced what some call a "100 year flood'. During this storm, the Dow
Chemicals waste treatment plant was overwhelmed and it's contents flushed into the
Tittabawassee River and backyards of everyone down stream.